Roch: Penn Cut

[Mackus]

Following is something I wrote in July, 2007:

I believe that Penn is NOT someone that is worth waiting for...have been saying along with the caveat that I hope that I am wrong if he stays or am not wrong if he goes....

Everytime I see him I see Matt Riley...

Trade him and Cabrera...risky but worth it...

I just can not get over that deer in the headlights look.

What deer in headlights look?

There were times during his first stint up when he was 20 that he was throwing 3-0 changeups to Manny and Ortiz and making them look silly.

He ended up struggling, and he was getting by on a good deal of luck in the early going, but I've never got the "deer in headlights" or intimidated impression from Penn. He's just struggled. He's not overmatched or lacking confidence from everything I've seen.

[ChaosLex]

Wow, I find this quote ridiculous on so many levels. What, is Trembley supposed to follow the OH majority before he makes decisions? When you say "this board," remember that OH is a fan message board, not the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Orioles.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. You sure showed me!

[Mackus]

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. You sure showed me!

To be fair, nobody has any idea at all what reasoning you are talking about that might be suspect. There hasn't been word one from Trembley on Penn getting cut, although I expect we'll hear something shortly.

[RShack]

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. You sure showed me!

Not giving you crap, just curious... exactly what did you mean?

[ChaosLex]

Not giving you crap, just curious... exactly what did you mean?

Okay, let me clarify. Like the rest of us, I don't know what Trembley's reasoning is; however, I'm going to assume it has to do with the extra option and giving Penn more time to develop (especially coming off his injury) in the minors. That's all well and good, but like most of the posters on here, I don't see why Penn isn't given at least a longer look in Spring Training. Especially since he seems to be doing so well.

That's all I meant. Nothing more! Haha.

I just didn't appreciate the condescending tone of Rolotomassie's post.

[Frobby]

I just want to remind everyone: Trembley knows Penn extremely well, and has been a big public advocate for him. He managed Penn at Bowie, at Ottawa, and in the Instructional League. He said very complimentary things about Penn when he was a minor league manager, in print and on the radio (I heard it personally). He defended Penn last year after the lost equipment bag episode. He has said complimentary things about Penn's stuff this spring.

Therefore, if Trembley has decided to sent Penn to minor league camp, it's because he thinks that is the best way for Penn to progress to the point where he is ready to succeed in the majors. He'd not doing it because he doesn't think Penn has the stuff or the mental makeup to ever succeed. And I guarantee you that he has spoken with Penn at length and explained why he is being sent down and what he needs to do to get back up to the majors.

[Frobby]

And here is the team's explanation per the Sun:

The Orioles want Penn to build up innings so he can become a better option for their rotation next month if he's needed. He can't get enough work at the major league camp, and the minor league facility is too far away for him to travel back and forth.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-penn0313,0,6294832.story

[Crazysilver03]

And here is the team's explanation per the Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-penn0313,0,6294832.story

That makes perfect sense. He wasnt pitching long outings and he wasnt going to get the chance here. So send him to minor league camp where he can build up.

[Rolotomassie]

Okay, let me clarify. Like the rest of us, I don't know what Trembley's reasoning is; however, I'm going to assume it has to do with the extra option and giving Penn more time to develop (especially coming off his injury) in the minors. That's all well and good, but like most of the posters on here, I don't see why Penn isn't given at least a longer look in Spring Training. Especially since he seems to be doing so well.

That's all I meant. Nothing more! Haha.

I just didn't appreciate the condescending tone of Rolotomassie's post.

Apologies for sounding condescending, but the post did seem kind of silly, as worded. I do understand that was not what you meant.

And I didn't mean to attack you as much as to make us all take a step back and realize we aren't professionals in the baseball player development field, and that most of us are a thousand miles away and have never met Penn. I'm sure Trembley isn't demoting Penn for personal reasons, I'm sure its because they think its the right thing to do for both Penn and the Orioles in the long term. So in the end it doesn't matter a bit what the majority of the OH thinks.

I honestly don;t think Penn ever had a shot of making the team out of ST, and his getting demoted after pitching solidly shows that was probably true. But I still think it was a good decision.

[Sports Guy]

That makes perfect sense. He wasnt pitching long outings and he wasnt going to get the chance here. So send him to minor league camp where he can build up.

Yea, it makes sense...Would have liked to have seen him get a 2-3 inning outing and see how he does but at the end of the day, i can't fault this decision.

Why people were jumping on this as anything more than what the orioles are doing(which seemed obvious) is beyond me.

[ChaosLex]

Apologies for sounding condescending, but the post did seem kind of silly, as worded. I do understand that was not what you meant.

And I didn't mean to attack you as much as to make us all take a step back and realize we aren't professionals in the baseball player development field, and that most of us are a thousand miles away and have never met Penn. I'm sure Trembley isn't demoting Penn for personal reasons, I'm sure its because they think its the right thing to do for both Penn and the Orioles in the long term. So in the end it doesn't matter a bit what the majority of the OH thinks.

I honestly don;t think Penn ever had a shot of making the team out of ST, and his getting demoted after pitching solidly shows that was probably true. But I still think it was a good decision.

My apologies too. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. Sorry bud.

[RVAbird]

And here is the team's explanation per the Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-penn0313,0,6294832.story

Good, that's what I wanted to hear. Hopefully he gets stretched out, blows through AAA in april and the Orioles keep their word. I'd hate to see him blocked by Trax, Lohse and company if he's succeeding.

[Lucky Jim]

And here is the team's explanation per the Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-penn0313,0,6294832.story

Obviously the FO read my post and realized that's exactly how you spin this.

[amateurfan]

No I didn't see Trembley's comments. But I do see Penn has 1 K in 5 IP this spring. That's not that good.

This is the exact stat you're cherry picking. Strikeouts are not the end all be all, especially in five innings of work. There are other stats, like walks, balls and strikes, OBA, but none of them mean much right now because it's five innings. The sample size is tiny.

[Terps23]

This is the exact stat you're cherry picking. Strikeouts are not the end all be all, especially in five innings of work. There are other stats, like walks, balls and strikes, OBA, but none of them mean much right now because it's five innings. The sample size is tiny.

I would say most pitching coaches don't strive for tons of strikeouts, but would instead prefer a ratio of 2-1 K's to Walks. Someone who strikes out more hitters is going to be more likely to walk more, and someone who strikes out fewer hitters should walk fewer batters.

A 2-1 ratio of K's to W's is more important than a ton of K's if it means walking a lot more batters.

As you said, strikeouts are not the end all, be all, and I would be suprised if that factored into his being cut compared to his other spring stats. It's likely they just wanted to give him a little more time in the minors. He's still very young.